Animal Health and Welfare, Milk Safety and Hygiene Practices in Dairy Cattle Farms: Türkiye Sample

Abstract

Dairy farming is one of the agricultural activities with high added economic value. Remarkable technical and economic developments have occurred in the dairy cow farming sector through subsidies. However, it is difficult to say that Türkiye has reached the level of developed countries in terms of productivity, quality, and hygiene practices in dairy cattle farming. In this study, it was aimed to determine the factors affecting the consciousness levels of dairy cow raisers about the practices related to animal health and welfare in addition to milk safety and hygiene in dairy cow farming. The study was conducted in three districts of Samsun province. The data were collected from 82 dairy cattle farms according to the stratified random sampling method. The results showed that 69.51% of the farms have milking units, 51.22% have delivery rooms, 52.44% have calf cages, 80.49% have an infirmary, and 81.71% have walking areas. While udder cleaning was carried out in all dairy farms, the udder drying procedure was applied in 74.39% of the farms. The percentage of farms with mastitis control (3.66%), wearing gloves (3.66%), and wearing milking outfits (8.54%) were found to be quite low. It is essential to raise the awareness level of milk safety and hygiene in terms of protecting public health, rehabilitating barn conditions, and maintaining animal welfare.

Keywords

• Dairy cattle
• milk safety
• animal welfare
• hygiene

References

1. Akbay, C., Akdoğan, F., 2020. Structure of dairy cattle holdings and market supply of milk: The case of İzmir province, Turkey. Turkish Journal of Agricultural Research, 7(3): 287-295.
2. Alkan, S., 2015. Main problems in dairy cattle barns in Turkey. Akademik Ziraat Dergisi, 4(1): 43-48. (In Turkish).
3. Alkan, S., Ünlü, H., 2019. Determination of general structure of cattle enterprises in Giresun province. Mediterranean Agricultural Sciences, 32(1): 109-115. (In Turkish).
4. Anonymous, 2021. Dairy Industry Statistics in the World and Türkiye. Turkish National Dairy Council, 2021 Dairy Report, Ankara, Türkiye, (https://ulusalsut konseyi.org.tr/wp-content/uploads/2021-Sut-Raporu. pdf), (Accessed: 22.03.2022). (In Turkish).
5. Anonymous, 2022a. Milk and Human Nutrition in Dairy Products.(https://www.fao.org/3/i3396e/i3396e.pdf), (Accessed: 22.03.2022).
6. Anonymous, 2022b. Livestock Report-2018. Chamber of Agricultural Engineers, (https://www.zmo.org.tr/ genel/bizden_detay.php?kod=29946&tipi=38&sube=0), (Accessed: 22.03.2022). (In Turkish).
7. Anonymous, 2022c. Livestock Statistics. Turkstat. (https://data.tuik.gov.tr/Kategori/GetKategori?p=tarim-111&dil=1), (Accessed: 22.03.2022). (In Turkish).
8. Anonymous, 2022d. Samsun ili mevcut tarımsal üretim sistemlerinin geliştirilmesi ve ürün deseninin yeniden belirlenmesi eylem planı (2021-2025). Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry.(https://samsun.tarim orman.gov.tr/Belgeler/Yayinlar/Tarimsal_strateji/ Samsun_ili_TarimsalUretim_Eylem_Plani.pdf), (Accessed: 22.03.2022). (In Turkish).

9. Bakır, G., Kibar, M., 2019. Determination of some structural characteristics of dairy cattle breeding enterprises via crosstab analysis in Muş province. Journal of Agriculture and Nature, 22(4): 609-619. (In Turkish).
10. Boz, İ., 2013. Structure and problems of dairy farms in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. Journal of Agriculture and Nature, 16(1): 24-32. (In Turkish).
11. Demir, N., Yavuz, F., 2010. A regional comparative analysis of farmers’ approaches to livestock support policies. Journal of Agricultural Faculty of Atatürk University, 41(2): 113-121. (In Turkish).
12. Deste, M., Yurttaş, A., 2018. A research for determining supplier selection criterions and establishment of evaluation system in dairy plants. Journal of Social Sciences of Mus Alparslan University, 6(ICEESS’18): 185-194. (In Turkish).
13. Gümüş, E., 2015. Primary effects of a potential Turkey-USA free trade agreement on the livestock sector in Turkey. European Union Expertise thesis, Republic of Türkiye Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ankara, Türkiye. (In Turkish).
14. Hozman, S.B., Akçay, H., 2016. Some technical and economical characteristics of dairy cattle farms that are member of cattle breeder's association of Sivas province. Turkish Journal of Agricultural Economics, 22(1): 57-65. (In Turkish).
15. İzci, C., Çuhadar Erdal, F., Zamirbekova, N., 2021. Basic approaches to healing and treatment of claw lesions in cattle. Eurasian Journal of Veterinary Sciences, 37(2): 137-150. (In Turkish).
16. Kaygısız, A., Özkan, İ., 2021. The structural features and hygiene conditions of dairy farms in Tekkeköy district of Samsun province. Harran Journal of Agricultural and Food Science, 25(2): 225-233. (In Turkish).
17. Kılıç, O., Aydın Eryılmaz, G., 2020. Structural characteristics of dairy cattle farms in Samsun province. Turkish Journal of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, 7(3): 637-645. (In Turkish).
18. Maton, A., Daelemans, J., Lambrecht, J., 1985. Housing of Animals. Developments in Agricultural Engineering 6, Elsevier Science Publishers, Netherlands.
19. Muradi, A.J., Akbay, C., 2018. Structure and marketing opportunities on dairy farms in Konya province, Turkey. International Journal of Scientific Research and Management, 6(10): 756-762.
20. Özbeyaz, C., Ünal, N., 2018. Compost bedded barns in dairy cattle. Livestock Studies, 58(1): 54-66. (In Turkish).
21. Özdemir, M.Y., Karaman, S., 2008. Investigation of suitability and development opportunities of dairy cattle barns for structural and environmental conditions ın central district of Tokat. Reserach Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 1(2): 27-36. (In Turkish).
22. Park, Y.W., Nam, M.S., 2015. Bioactive peptides in milk and dairy products: a review. Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources, 35(6): 831.
23. Saçlı, Y., 2007. Transformation requirements of animal husbandry sector in the harmonization period with the EU. Planning expertise thesis, State Planning Organization, Ankara, Türkiye. (In Turkish).
24. Sarıözkan, S., 2019. Estimation the financial losses due to mastitis in Turkish dairy enterprises. Harran University Journal of The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, 8(2): 147-151. (In Turkish).
25. Tosun, S., Acar, D.B., 2019. The comparison of milking hygiene with bulk tank somatic cell count and total bacterial count in dairy herds in Tekirdağ province. Kocatepe Veterinary Journal, 12(3): 292-299.
26. Turan, Z., Şanver, D., Öztürk, K., 2017. The Importance of dairy cattle breeding in the livestock sector in Turkey, contribution to domestic output and comparison with foreign countries. Academic Review of Economics and Administrative Sciences, 10(3): 60-74. (In Turkish).
27. Yamane, T., 1967. Elemantary Sampling Theory. Printice Hall Inc. Englewood Cliffs, Nt.
28. Yaylak, E., Konca, Y., Koyubenbe, N., 2016. A study on health protection managements and health disorders survey of cattle breeders’ association registered farms in Odemis, Izmir. Journal of Animal Production, 57(1): 28-40. (In Turkish).